Today, we have a new interview for you, with Antoinette Brim, whose newest book of poetry, These Women You Gave Me, has been published by Indolent Books. Brim is a Cave Canem Foundation fellow, a recipient of the Walker Foundation Scholarship to the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and a Pushcart Prize nominee. You can read some of her poems here and here, and you can check out our interview with her here.
Today’s prompt. In her interview, Brim provides us with several suggestions for generative writing exercises, and we’d like to challenge to today to tackle her third one, which is based in the myth of Narcissus. After reading the myth, try writing a poem that plays with the myth in some way. For example, you could imagine that imagine the water is speaking to you, the narcissus flower. Or you could write a poem in which the narcissus berates the Kardashians for stealing their neurosis. Or a poem that comments on the narcissism of our time, i.e. beauty and body obsession, etc
Listen Ye…Listen All,
There’s a new world order…here
Narcissism it’s called
And its open to one and all…
It’s tentacles spread all over
Its followers are legion
Young, old and those in power
Narcissism deemed the new religion
The body, a temple
Self- adulation, a prayer
Love thyself, boast and brag
Selfies, a sweet Prasad
That must with all the world be shared
Not enough to be beautiful; not enough to self-admire
Likes and follows, a matter of life,
Or face death like Narcissus in a quagmire
Beauty is eternal, all Narcissists believe
Ageing, a thing of the past
Botox, Implants, plastic surgeries
Beauty must be made to last
Allegiance to self, a basic requisite
Not enough knowing that you are exquisite
Proclaim to the world and shout
Learn to smile, learn to pout
Narcissism, now every man’s faith
Narcissus is now anointed a Saint,
His curses absolved, a flower in his name,
And you’re a misfit, if a Narcissist, you ‘aint!
Note: Prasad is a sweet offering to God in Hindu culture which is then distributed amongst people who visit the temple
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